User Reviews

Reviews by alphagnome:

Appearance:
Hazy, deep orange body. Nothing for a head - not even a slight ring around the glass. Light, fine carbonation and very little trails of carbonation.

Aroma:
Very sweet and unusual aroma. Coppertone sunblock comes to mind. Notes of light caramel malts and nutmeg are here. Not very pleasing the the nose.

Taste:
Unfortunately, this isn't pleasing to the taste buds either. And by not very pleasing, I mean it's horrible. After reading reviews here, I can't help but wonder if I got a can from a bad shipment because this isn't drinkable. I get brown sugar, hints of banana, and... river water. A bit of orange zest hits at the end.

Mouthfeel:
Thin and watery. No noticable carbonation.

Overall:
After reading a few reviews here, I decided to give this one a chance. I'm picky when it comes to this style, but will give everything a fair chance. That said, what we have here is in my opinion the worst Oktoberfest I've ever had and quite possibly the worst beer in general. I have only dumped out 2 beers in my life, this is number 2. I can only hope that I got a bad can but even so, I can't recommend this to anyone.

Pours a clear, dark amber color with a thin head that settled to a thin film. Just a few specks of lacing is left down the glass.

Malty aroma that is bready with a caramel twist. Possbile toast as well. Just the lightest whiff of spicy hops.

Clean malt flavor that is not too sweet. A little toast adds some interest. The marzens I really find enjoyable have a moderate hop presence, unfortunately this beer lacks that aspect. Very little hop flavor and low bitterness.

A somewhat hefty body for a sub 6% ABV beer. Nicely carbonated that lends a nice texture. A little more carbonated than its German counterparts.

I would buy this beer again although it would not be my first choice. Its clean malt flavor being its most interesting aspect.

A: Brilliantly clear, if maybe a little light and lacking in bubbles, with a nice three finger just off white head. Very attractive (particularly for the purpose many O-fests serve of getting BMCers in to Craft).

S: Malty, with a definite munich or vienna flair, but a pretty solid hop-dosage as well. Too much.

T: The taste is a little more bready, though perhaps bread-sticky would be a better term. There is a certain cooked crispness to the taste. Not astringent, but since it's been a while since I've reviewed, that's thw word I'll use. Just don't take that to be overpoweringly negative.

M: Thin. I don't know if that's how Oktoberfests are supposed to be, but I don't like it. I've always thought of oktoberfests as a slightly heartier, maltier fall beer. This ain't.

Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is caramel with rusty undertones. Two fingers of slightly tanned head dissipated to leave a thin lacing and ring around the edge.

Smell: I could smell the candy and toasted caramel when I popped the top. Lots of sweet candy and toasted caramel malt, plus cocoa and brown sugar. It is a little grassy, too.

Taste: Lots of malty goodness with an adequate hop bite. Toasted caramel, brown sugar, and a little cocoa create the backbone. Branching from that is a dry, herbal/grassy hop presence that gives the beer a nice bite.

Drinkability: Very solid märzen, which, I am proud to say, comes from just down the road.

T - taste is of sweet grain malts first and foremost. This beer rides the grainy train. The malt is very cereal and bready tasting without much else going on it. Although this isn't uberly complex, the flavors that are there are pretty good.

M - creamy and full, goes down well.

D - As others in this style, this is a pretty one dimensional beer. I wouldn't say this is better or worse than others in the taste department, however it is very enjoyable to drink - I could fill a couple liter mugs of this without much difficulty.

A little bit of a wheat flavor to it, and it's the most potent flavor in it. The Oktoberfest flavor really just hangs out in the back and never makes much of an impression. A nice buttery texture, though.

POUR: dark amber in color with some ruby red hues along with a thin white head made up of soda-like bubbles. Clean in appearance with lots of little orbs streaming upwards. Great looking pour for the style.

AROMA: faint hints of cereal grains and caramel. Some very subtle hints of brown sugar and corn syrup. The aroma of this beer is very muted.

TASTE: one sip and this is definitely going to please the malt lovers. I get toasted brown bread, brown sugar, molasses, soggy bran flakes and an overal very generous grain bill packed into each mouthful. The finish is clean and crisp which really rounds things out nicely.

OVERALL: once it hits the tongue this beer takes off. With little aroma and a nice appearance you're sort of left wondering what is going to make this beer special. The malt forward flavor profile of this well crafted lager and that smooth, crisp finish really make this a winner. Well done, wish we had more of it! Another fine beer from Great River.

Smells of the same kind of rounded toffee nodes that you find in a good oktoberfest, but these are buffeted by a weedy tang. It's not bad, really, nor even offputting, but it just don't complement the rounded malt too well.

And it tastes almost exactly like it smells: nice malty started, weird (but not really *bad*) weedy finish. It don't quite jibe up. And that's a shame, because the up front malt has some very promising nodes of cocoa and brown sugar, but then the back end just gets all creepy and weird.